Confession: I Voted for Rob Ford

I know, I know, I did a bad thing. We don’t need to recap the disasters to qualify that Rob Ford was awful. Watching his mayoralty caused shudders, laughter, and overall astonishment that it actually happened. It felt just like watching The Room. Tommy Wizeau was in charge of Toronto, and it was partly my fault. I couldn’t have imagined this. The most that can be said for Ford is that he didn’t own a pair of jackboots, but my god. Mayor Ford seemed like he’d attend a book burning not to protest a particular book, but books in general.

Some time ago Edward Keenan from the Grid rightly excoriated him for what was, at the time, the latest Fordian slip (there were several more) and one line particularly hit home:

“What we didn’t necessarily expect was for the mayor himself to turn it into a hearing all about his own basic competency for office, and the competency, by incredibly uncomfortable implicit extension, of the city who elected him [emphasis mine].”

Keenan was talking about me. I ride a bike, I live downtown, my obsessions include high-brow literature and music, and I play chess at about a 1500 level. I am not Ford country on the surface. So, what was going through my head when I voted Ford?

First of all, I am not looking to be absolved (I am most certainly guilty), but I’d like to cast a redeeming light on people who voted Ford but totally regret it, and also in the naive hope that unpacking my mistake will go some way towards preventing future disasters.

On my way to the voting station, I still did not know who I was going to vote for. Looking back, I didn’t exactly pass over Lincoln or Churchill. I wasn’t enthralled by anyone. I was, and am, inherently skeptical and distrustful of all politicians but Iwanted to vote for somebody. I resented the fact that I was voting based on what platitude I liked best, but I never did the work to get beyond that level. Perhaps I read perfunctorily and only out of duty, but clichés abound in political journalism. He appealed to my abstract love of economy. Not in a financial sense, and certainly not in a refusal to pay for worthy things, but in the part that hates prolixity, and shudders at a forced five move checkmate when the same position offered a more elegant solution in three.

All things equal, I got a kick out of sticking it to the left because I had recently graduated from OISE teacher’s college and the reek from their paltry and corny progressive garbage was still very much in my mouth. The left’s platitudes sounded like blatant and juvenile pandering. Grand ideas that weren’t meant to be realised, just designed to sound palatable. Ford’s ideas seemed smaller, and therefore plausible to bring about. I had a choice between what I perceived as two cons, and I opted for the one I thought was the least ambitious (so less could go wrong) and at least aimed at financially responsible adults.

In 2008 the National Post reported that local politicians were angry with Ford (just some nobody then) because, unlike them, he didn’t expense his office equipment. He bought his own stapler, et cetera. This was before “gravy” entered the city’s vocabulary and before “the taxpayer” became a refrain. It struck me as honest and, I daresay, principled. So, two years later when he campaigned on essentially this notion, I had some basis to believe he was sincere. Meanwhile, claims about Ford’s ineptitude seemed not just exaggerated, but made up. Could anyone be so wildly unfit? Yes. It turns out, yes.

Illustration by Malcolm Jamison (Click for more in new tab)

I didn’t know that he came from a millionaire family with a history in politics, and it was just posturing to catch suckers like me. Was he affecting folksy honesty in anticipation of a run for mayor? This seems too farsighted and calculating for our mayor, yet in effect this is what happened. I have learned never to second guess my cynicism, and to this day I trust my instinct and continue to think the worst of everyone. My bullshit meter is severely recalibrated, my political innocence gone, gone, gone.

Perhaps a distinction should be made between Ford voters and Ford supporters. I can’t be the only one of my set who voted for him. There are others. They’re likely the ones who maybe nod a bit but remain silent during Ford bashings. Maybe they’ll read this and feel okay coming out of the closet. I hope so! Torontonians are good people, and I expect the admission will inevitably elicit righteous ridicule, but ultimately forgiveness too.

As a further sign of goodwill and for personal penitence, I impose on readers to suggest to me ideas for community service I can take up. I love Toronto and I want to repair, in some way, the harm I’ve caused. Perhaps like buying a carbon credit as it doesn’t actually fix the pollution, but I cannot undo my vote.

Let’s add a nuance to the simplistic notion that anyone who voted Ford is a Neanderthal from the outer reaches of Toronto, even if generally true. Reasonably smart and decent human beings here made a mistake.

Ivor Tossel has written a book called The Gift of Ford. Essentially, Ford was such a blatant catastrophe that people across the political spectrum have united in their renewed concern for smart urban planning. But Tossel also claims that voters knew what they were getting; one idea from a combative and uncooperative simpleton. This is how it turned out, but despite what he seems to think, some of us were surprised. Perhaps he takes for granted that he was a journalist covering city hall. A simple message during a campaign isn’t unreasonable. My vote was a mistake, but not a conscious one.

In this light, please grant a period of immunity for those who regret voting Ford, and don’t write off their intelligence or basic decency. Clemency is a virtue and I won’t vote like that again. On the other hand, those who watched the circus thrilled that they voted Ford need to be reined in, and we should at once ready the beds, prepare the straight jackets and fling open the gates to our city’s mental asylums.

About Jeff Halperin

Jeff Halperin was a city hall reporter at the Toronto Standard, but his writing has also appeared at Maclean's, the Grid and elsewhere. He also writes on literature, Leafs, music, chess and more.
Jeff's website is [here]
For other PP posts by Jeff click [here]

“He appealed to my abstract love of economy. Not in a financial sense, and certainly not in a refusal to pay for worthy things, but in the part that hates prolixity…”

That’s where you went wrong. There is no chance that Rob Ford knows what the word ‘prolixity’ means.

More to the point, however, is your call for suggestions for penance you can perform. There is only one thing you can do: When the next election is held, be it a by-election to replace the Mayor for the remainder of his term, or the 2014 Municipal Election, you must get involved. Not merely by announcing your support for a candidate on a blog, but by actively volunteering for a thoughtful, responsible candidate for Mayor. There were dozens of people on the ballot last time, your choices are not limited to the top 2 or 3 chosen by the media, although I suspect that there may be a thoughtful person in the top tier this time around.

Go forth and get involved. Make sure your neighbors, friends and family actually vote. Remind them why thoughtful and competent leadership is important, and encourage them to vote that way, even to the point of offering people a ride to the polls on election day if necessary (a well run campaign will help to organize this).

You may even find that you meet new people who share your interest in a well-run city and competent leadership. Campaigns can be exciting, fun, social experiences. Often (depending on the political stripe of the candidate) on a campaign you can be surrounded by interesting, caring people who genuinely want to make things better. Take this energy, these idea, and run with it. When you talk to your candidate, share any ideas you have for running the city. You may find that they are receptive to trying something different and engaging with citizens about how things can be better run.

Simon

To repent: Work on one of campaigns of someone other than Ford once a by-election is called.

Take back the streets! Banning butt cans outside commercial properties is ridiculous. Allow businesses to have their own disposal units to control the mess. Unfortunately, people will not stop smoking because they are forced to litter.

https://goo.gl/KTAv8y - How To: Enjoy Smoking (Cigarettes)

Don’t let the glares get to you. When people pass you on the street and give that “stop trying to kill me” look, remember that they are ignorant. Smokers aren’t trying to harm anyone, but themselves. Obviously, most non-smokers don’t want toxic gas blown in their face. What they may not get is that people who smoke aren’t standing around waiting for their next unsuspecting victim to pass. They are just being themselves, often consciously blowing smoke away from passers by. And honestly, a gust or two isn’t likely to harm anyone.

https://goo.gl/dj2VaK - How To: Enjoy Smoking (Cigarettes)

Take back the streets! Banning butt cans outside commercial properties is ridiculous. Allow businesses to have their own disposal units to control the mess. Unfortunately, people will not stop smoking because they are forced to litter.